


Surprise Visit

by Lacy073



Category: Leverage
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28446744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lacy073/pseuds/Lacy073
Summary: The team is preparing for the holidays- stringing lights and frosting cookies- when they're interrupted by some surprise visitors.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5
Collections: 2020 Leverage Secret Santa Exchange





	Surprise Visit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [benjaminrussell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjaminrussell/gifts).



> To my Leverage Secret Santa giftee- Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy.

“Hardison? Grab the other end of the lights, please.” Sophie stands in the doorway, directing. Eliot’s on a ladder, looking gruffly puzzled, if someone can look “gruffly puzzled.” 

“Sure,” Hardison says, and stands up from his laptop. He has spent the past forty-five minutes putting together the “perfect” Christmas playlist. Now, he hits play, and Jingle Bell Rock comes over the speakers. He hits another button, increasing the volume, and heads over to the window where the lights are being hung. 

“I don’t have all day, Hardison,” Eliot grumbles, but without his usual bite. 

Hardison takes the other end of the string of Christmas lights and, holding it in one hand, climbs up on the kitchen chair he has pulled to the window sill to align it with Eliot’s side. 

“Does that look even?” Hardison asks Sophie, who stands back and squints a little. 

“Eliot, move yours up a little.” Eliot slides his end of the string slowly until Sophie stops him, and then pulls a hammer from his belt and a nail from behind his ear. 

“I knew you were tough as nails, but this is taking it to a whole new level,” Hardison says. He jumps off the chair, landing quietly, and fetches his own nail. Eliot has finished with the hammer, and tosses it to Hardison. 

“Eliot!” Sophie exclaims, a moment of panic overtaking her. “We don’t throw dangerous tools at each other!” 

Eliot says nothing, but he smirks a bit to himself. 

When the lights are up, the boys turn to Parker, who is helping get ready for decorating cookies. She sits at the bar counter in Nate’s apartment surrounded by food coloring and bowls of frosting. There are twelve in total, and so far eight have been colored. 

Hardison glances at her hands. They are stained every color of the rainbow, and colors he knows for sure are not in that box of food coloring Eliot had bought her. 

“What are you doing?” He asks her, peering at the bowls of frosting. Most of them have been “dipped into.” She has green frosting smeared across her face, and a dollop of red on her nose. 

“Coloring the frosting,” Parker responds, like it’s obvious. Which it is, but that’s not what Hardison meant. 

“No, I mean, why are your hands stained?” 

“Oh, well I was going to mix some colors together, but I didn’t know where Nate kept his spoons, and I only had enough for the twelve colors, so I just mixed the food coloring with my fingers.” 

Eliot sighs, having overheard, and mutters, “Reason number 419 to keep Parker out of the kitchen. At all cost.” 

Sophie joins them in the kitchen, then, holding a box of cut-out cookies Eliot had baked the night before. “There should be fifteen cookies in here, so we all get three.” 

“Where’s Nate?” Parker asks, already diving into the cookies. She wants to make sure she gets the one of the Grinch. She cut that one herself. 

“He had to run to the store,” Sophie says. “He should be back any minute.” 

Eliot grabs the box of food coloring from Parker. He looks at the bowls and tries to figure out what colors she still needs. He sees red, green, white (one bowl just stayed white, for beards and things), yellow, orange, blue, purple (one of the colors she mixed with her hands), and a kind of blue-green color that’s really pretty even if it’s not Christmassy. 

“What colors did you still want?” He asks her. He wants to work on not being a grouch all the time; last night when he’d made the cookies Parker had come in wanting to help, and he’d yelled at her to go away. He’d felt bad, so he let her cut out the Grinch cookie for herself to decorate the next morning. It was the least he could do. 

“I dunno,” she answers

Eliot considers the colors. She’s missing pink, although that’s not very festive, and maybe a light blue and a light green would be nice. Oh, and brown. Eliot jumps to work right away on the brown, dumping equal parts red and blue, frowning at the emptiness of them. Parker had really taken a toll on the food coloring. 

When the frostings are finished, Eliot calls for everyone to gather in the kitchen. Hardison, who had wandered to the fridge in search of some orange soda, pops up behind Eliot. He’s holding something, and Eliot turns around to see what it is. 

“I found us some Christmas sprinkles,” Hardison announces, proud of himself. 

Eliot takes them from his hand, searching the packaging for an expiration date. He’s not really worried that sprinkles would go bad, just they might have been sitting there since Sam had joined them for Christmas. 

But no, Eliot realizes in a moment. These won’t expire for another two years. Recently bought. 

“Who wants to pick their cookies first?” Sophie asks, laying them all out so everyone can see. 

“Parker already picked one,” Hardison points out, “so she already went first.” 

“Okay,” Sophie says, sighing in a way that makes her hair move. “Then who wants to go next?” 

She expects Hardison to demand to choose first, and Eliot to roll his eyes and complain about this being childish, but is surprised when both boys say, “you” at the same time. 

“Me?” She asks, mostly rhetorically. She smiles to herself a bit, and chooses one shaped like a bell. 

“Eliot can choose next,” Parker says, and he quickly picks up a wreath-shaped cookie. 

The dealing goes on until only three remain on the table. 

“Those are for Nate,” Parker announces, even though everyone already knows this. 

“He should be home by now,” Sophie says, and premature worry knits her brow. She is about to ask Hardison to call Nate when the front door opens. 

“It’s about time,” she begins, but stops short when it’s not Nate that walks in the front door. Instead, a kid- six or seven years old- stands staring at her. He has dark hair that’s growing into his eyes, and is wearing a shirt with dinosaurs on it. His eyes dart back and forth between Sophie’s face and the bowls of frosting on the tabletop. 

“Hello?” Sophie starts, assuming the others are as confused as she is, when a second kid comes strolling in, holding a third in her arms.

“What-” Hardison starts, but suddenly his “perfect” Christmas playlist is hissing static into the speakers, so he rushes over to the laptop and begins punching buttons.

“Did Nate order some kids for us this Christmas?” Eliot asks. He walks around the island, approaching the little boy. 

“Hey, there, my dude,” Eliot says, kneeling next to him. “What’s your name?” 

“I’m Jake,” the boy says, and promptly holds his hand out for Eliot to shake. Eliot returns the gesture. 

“Are you supposed to be here?” he asks. 

“Yes, sir” the boy answers, and skips away from Eliot. Eliot can’t keep the absurd look from his face; it had been years since he’d been called “sir” when not on a con. He looks to Sophie, hoping she has some idea of what’s going on. 

But Sophie is just as perplexed as he. She has gone to sit next to the girl, who has made herself comfortable on Nate’s couch. The younger child is sitting on her lap, playing with a toy. 

“Hello, there,” Sophie says, and sits. The younger child stares at Sophie, curious. 

“Hello, ma’am. My name is Rosalind, and this is Josie.” Rosalind appears to be twelve or thirteen. She has blonde hair that is plaited carefully into a braid. She wears an old-world blouse and a long black skirt that is a size too big. 

“Is that the key to this apartment?” Sophie asks, gesturing towards the lanyard around the girl’s neck. 

The girl nods her head and starts to explain, but that’s as far as she gets because suddenly the door to the apartment is thrown fully open, and Nate is there, and so is an elderly black woman with thick dark hair adorned with red and gold ribbons. 

“Hi, Sophie,” Nate says. “I brought a little surprise.” 

The woman scoffs. “I’m hardly  _ little _ , young man.” 

Hardison looks up from his laptop and gasps. “Nana!” 

“Nana” saunters into the room and closes the door behind her. She shrugs off her coat and says, “Alec, is that you?” 

“You better believe it,” Hardison says, and vaults over the couch and into Nana’s arms so hard he nearly knocks her over. 

Parker and Eliot look at each other, eyebrows raised.

Nana pulls away first and looks Hardison up and down. “You’re just as  _ beautiful  _ as I remember you, my dear, dear boy.” 

“So wait, let me get this straight,” Hardison says, practically vibrating. “You just happened to be at the grocery store, and just happened to see Nate there, and you just recognized him from the news, and decided to go home with him?”

“Something like that,” Nana says in a tone that is so obviously a lie Hardison can’t even correct her. 

Sophie looks at Nate, who pulls an innocent face better than the one he uses in a con, and turns to the cookie making on the table. 

“Eliot, how many cookies did you make last night?” 

“Fifteen.” 

“But we already chose our cookies,” Parker whines. 

“Parker, do you think you could share with our guests?” Nate asks. 

Parker sulks, but relents and puts two of her cookies back on the table. Eliot tosses all three of his back. 

“Don’t you want to decorate your cookies, Eliot?” Nate asks, a hint of teasing in his voice. 

“Not particularly,” Eliot responds. Instead he opens the fridge and pulls out a beer. 

“Can I still decorate-”

“Yes, Parker, you can still decorate your cookie.” 

“Alec, I want you to meet my children. Gather ‘round,” Nana says, and the children hurry to where she points. “This is Jacob, and these two are Rosalind and Josie.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jake says, holding his hand out the same way he did to Eliot. Hardison takes it and shakes, just as bewildered as Eliot. 

“Hello, Sir,” Rosalind says, but she doesn’t hold her hand out; both are occupied holding Josie. 

Hardison looks at Nana. “They’re  _ yours _ ?” 

Nana smiles. “You better believe it. I  _ collected  _ them over the years.” 

“Nana says we’re valuable,” Jake says, his chest swelling with pride. 

“Well I should say so,” Hardison says. “Do you guys want to frost some cookies?” 

“Yeah!” Jake exclaims, and skillfully avoids Nana’s attempts to reign him in as he jumps up on one of the barstools. 

The girl named Rosalind looks at Nana through Josie’s hair. 

“Oh, my, Rosalind, I’m so sorry. Here I was, so distracted by getting to see Alec that I completely forgot!” Nana stoops and picks Josie up from Rosalind’s arms. Rosalind happily skips off to join Jake, actually acting her age for the first time since she’d arrived. 

“What should we do?” Hardison asks, taking a drink of his orange soda. 

Nana sees it and laughs. “You know I’m the one that introduced you to that, don’t you?” 

“Really?” Hardison’s eyes open wide as he looks down at her. 

“Yup. You were eleven, and you had never had a soda before. So I handed you a quarter and told you to go out to the vending machine and get yourself a soda.” 

Hardison is quiet for a moment before exclaiming, “I remember that! It was the best thing I’d ever tasted.” 

Nana smiles. “Do you want to go out for dinner?” 

Hardison looks at her. “I really don’t think we should. The whole pandemic and all, you know?” 

“Right, I forgot,” Nana says, and laughs to herself. “I have my hands so full with these three I hardly ever have time to even think about going out to eat, much less actually doing it.” 

Hardison is frowning, and Nana is about to ask what’s the matter, when his eyes suddenly light up. He turns to the kitchen. 

“Eliot, do you still have the leftover steaks and potatoes from yesterday?” 

“Sure.” 

“Can we have them?” At Nate’s raised eyebrow, Hardison continues, “I thought we could eat downstairs.” 

“Is that the bar?” Nana asks. “Oh, that’s a swell idea.” 

“You don’t mind leftovers?” Eliot asks, already pulling the containers from the fridge. 

Nana snorts, startling Parker from her decorating. She looks up. 

“Can I come?” 

Nana rounds the table and comes to Parker, putting her arm around the thief’s shoulders. “Sorry babe, but I think Alec and I have some catching up to do.” Nana looks Parker up and down. “You’re Parker, aren’t you?” 

Parker nods, surprised at how “not-uncomfortable” she is. Usually people’s touch makes her want to squirm, or stab someone, but Nana’s touch makes her feel something else entirely. She ponders this for a moment, then shakes it off. She has way too much Christmas decorating to do. 

“Okay,” she chirps. 

Nana laughs. Her laugh is low and sweet, and she creases her forehead in a way that makes the wrinkles on her face make sense. 

“Here you go,” Eliot says, after the microwave beeps, and hands Hardison a stack of glass containers. If they burn Hardison’s hands, he doesn’t say so. 

“Nate?” Nana asks. She catches his eye, then looks briefly to the little girl still on her hip, playing with her hair ribbons. 

“Oh, um,” Nate says, stumbling on his words. He looks around for Sophie, but she has already come to relieve Nana of her child. 

“Thanks man,” Hardison says, and turns to the door.

“Don’t stay out too late,” Sophie jokes, and sits on the couch. She hasn’t spent time with kids in a long time; they have so much to do together. 

“I want to get to know all of you,” Nana says in a tone that leaves no room for uncertainty. “We’ll be back in a few hours.” 

“Bye, Nana,” the kids chorus, even Josie, and Hardison smiles just to himself. 

He’d said those words more times than he could ever count. 

“This guy lives above a bar?” Nana asks when they’re out of earshot. 

Hardison snorts. “The guy’s whole apartment is a bar.” 

“He likes to,” she pauses, looking for the right word. “Indulge?”

“He’s a drunk,” Hardison says, but it’s a heavy topic and he sets it down quickly. There’s enough for them to discuss without adding Nate’s drinking problems to the list. 

“Where should we sit?” Nana asks, scanning the expanse of McRory’s. Most of the tables have chairs stacked on them; the bar hasn’t been open for months. But one of the booths in the corner looks clean and has a view of the street outside, and Hardison decides it’s perfect. 

The two slide into the booth and uncap the leftovers. 

“I forgot plates,” he says suddenly. “And cutlery.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Nana responds. She pulls the containers to the middle of the table and pulls out a chunk of mashed potatoes with her fingers. “Delicious.” 

Hardison laughs, and picks up a glob for himself. “Eliot’s food always is.” 

“So tell me about them,” she says. She uncaps another container and pulls a piece of meat apart with her fingers. 

“What do you want to know?” 

“Anything you want to tell.” 

“Well, let’s see,” Hardison says. “First up is Nate, but it seems like you already know him.” 

“Not really,” Nana says. “He contacted me a few weeks ago to arrange this, and I spoke to him on the phone two or three times, but that’s all.” 

“Nate is… how do I put it?” Hardison pauses to think about it a bit. “He’s still caught up in the past, but he tries his best to do right by the rest of the world. He’s what got me into this gig to begin with.” 

“Do you like it?” 

“I’ve never had a better job.” He uncaps his soda and offers some to Nana, but she refuses, instead pulling a bottle of water from her bag. 

“What about the woman that took Josie?” 

Hardison smiles. “That’s Sophie. She’s very good at- how should I put it-”

“Persuasion?” 

“Yes, exactly.” 

By way of explanation, Nana points up the stairs: Nate told her. 

“She considers herself an actress, but is a horror to watch on stage. Her skills are best put to use when she’s flirting or scamming some-” Hardison cuts off abruptly. “You’re not going to call the cops on us, are you?” 

“Alec,” Nana scolds, and he stops eating but doesn’t look her in the eye. “I’ve known you for twenty something years. You think I didn’t notice what you were doing? You think I haven’t seen  _ Alec Hardison  _ in the news, on wanted lists? I know what you do.” 

“And you’re not-” 

“Not what?” 

“I was just worried you would be disappointed.” Hardison stares at the table. 

“Alec.” She says his name again, and her tone forces his eyes to hers. “I could never be disappointed in you.” 

A smile finds itself on Hardison’s face. “What if I,” he pauses to think for a moment. “What if I hack into the government and convince them I’m the president?” 

Nana just shakes her head. “Never. Like I said, I know what you do. I know my children are safe upstairs. I know you break the law, and are probably wanted in more than a few countries. But I also know you have done more good than many ‘honest’ citizens I’ve met in my day.” 

“I always knew you were cool, but I didn’t know you were this cool.” 

Nana just smiles, and takes a sip of her water. 

“So where did you find the kids?” Hardison asks. 

“Through the system,” she answers. “They all landed in my care at one point, and those were the three that stuck. Jacob was just so  _ funny,  _ and he had already been to eleven homes. He’s only seven.” 

“He shook Eliot’s hand. That’s insane,” Hardison says. “Eliot scares  _ me  _ and I’m taller than him. If I were seven, I’d probably pee myself.” 

“From what Nate told me, Eliot seems to have a, um,  _ different  _ personality when he’s around kids.” 

“Fair,” Hardison says. He glances at his phone; no messages from Nate. Things must be going well upstairs. “What about Rosalind and Josie?” 

Nana sighs affectionately. “Rosalind came to me two years ago. Her and Josie had been separated, put in different homes, for six months, and it was really hard on her. So once they were reunited, they were inseparable.” 

“Are they sisters?” Hardison asks. 

“Not biologically. Rosalind picked up Josie in her first home, and when the parents weren’t home- which, according to her, was most of the time- she would take care of Josie. So she was basically a mother at the age of ten.” 

“How old is she now?” 

“Thirteen, going on thirty, I swear,” she says, and a smile creases her eyes. Rosalind is closest to her heart. She’s a grownup and a child, sensible and wild, beautiful and messy. She reminds Nana of herself in a way no one has before. 

“She seems really sweet,” Hardison comments. “Just hope Parker doesn’t teach them how to pick locks or jump off buildings or something.”

“Oh yes,” Nana says. “You were telling me about the team. You mentioned Nate and Sophie.” 

“Well, you already know some about Eliot. He’s about as badass as they come. Protects us like his life depends on it, even though I’m pretty sure he’d have killed me by now out of sheer annoyance if Nate let him.” 

“I doubt that.” 

“You’re right. Eliot wouldn’t. He acts all big and tough, but he’s really a big teddy bear.” 

“What about Parker?” 

Hardison laughs and rolls his eyes. “She’s insane.” 

Nana leans over the table, almost getting her shirt in the food. “But you like her.” 

He looks away, his cheeks heating up. “Maybe.” 

“You have good taste,” she says, and straightens. 

Hardison says nothing, but his grin is a mile wide. 

“So,” Nana begins, “I didn’t just come here to visit.” 

Hardison’s eyebrows raise, and he looks at her over the open top of his soda. “You didn’t?” 

She levels her gaze at him good-naturedly. “I need a favor.” 

“Yes?” 

“I’m having back surgery in two weeks, and I have no one to watch the kids.” 

“Oh.” 

“It would just be for a week or so. They’ve very low maintenance.” 

“I mean-” 

“I don’t need an answer today.” 

“I want to,” Hardison blurts. “I’d be honored to take care of your kids.” 

“Do you think the rest of the team would be willing to help?” 

“They deal with me and Parker every day. They can deal with a couple kids.” 

Nana laughs as she stands from the booth and stretches her shoulders. They’re sore from sitting for so long. 

“Should we head back upstairs and see how they fared?” 

Nana nods, and the two head towards the staircase. Before they can open the door, though, a shriek startles them both. 

“He’s gonna get me!” Rosalind streaks by, running as fast as she can. Over her clothes she’s wearing one of Parker’s old dresses- Hardison vaguely recognizes it from a con but can’t remember which one. It’s way too big and falls off her shoulders, but someone-probably Sophie- has safety-pinned it in place. A moment later, Eliot appears, brandishing a nerf sword. 

“You can run, but you can’t hide!” he bellows. Not even glancing towards Hardison, Eliot plows through the bar. It doesn’t look like he’s going all that easy on her, either. 

Nana turns to Hardison. “I always knew Rosalind could hold her own.” 

“Looks like she’s got some help,” Hardison remarks, as Parker appears. She’s wearing one of Sophie’s old dresses, and it’s falling off just like Rosalind’s. On her head is a crown made out of construction paper (who knew Nate even owned that), and she too carries a nerf sword.

“Stop, knight!” she shrieks, and lunges at Eliot with the sword. 

Eliot’s faster, though, and turns and gives Parker a good whack with his sword. She makes a production of her death before laying on the floor of the bar, her tongue hanging from her mouth, barely able to conceal her grin.

“Mother!” Rosalind cries, and runs to Parker’s side. She looks up at Eliot. “Good, knight, how could you? I have no choice but to send my brother, the dragon, after you!” Rosalind whistles, a short and high sound, and Jake comes clamoring down the stairs. 

He has pillows fastened to his front and back with bathrobe ties, and has one of Nate’s comforters draped over his head. 

“I have been summoned to slay you!” 

“Good luck,” Eliot mutters, stepping out of character, and sprints towards the door. Jake follows as fast as his pillow and blanket getup will allow, and Rosalind does too. She needs to make sure that cruel knight is dealt with properly. Even slain Parker wants to see, so she picks herself up from the floor and glances at Hardison before running after the others. 

Nana laughs, low and sweet. “I think they’ve got it covered.” 

Hardison couldn’t agree more. 


End file.
